The Obscenity Prosecution Task Force (OPTF) was an organization created in 2005 by the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

. The OPTF's job was to investigate and prosecute producers and distributors of

hardcore pornography Hardcore pornography, or hardcore porn, is pornography that features detailed depictions of sexual organs or sexual acts such as vaginal, anal or oral intercourse, fingering, anilingus, ejaculation, and fetish play. The term is in contrast wi ...

that meets the

legal tests In law, a test is a commonly applied method of evaluation used to resolve matters of jurisprudence. In the context of a trial, a hearing, discovery, or other kinds of legal proceedings, the resolution of certain questions of fact or law may hinge ...

for

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

, as defined by the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

.Staff report (November 21, 2005). An All-Out Assault On Sexual Content. ''

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

''Abramson, Larry (September 27, 2005)
Federal Government Renews Effort to Curb Porn.
''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...

'',

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

The group was led by U.S. Attorney Brent Ward. The task force was formed during the

Presidency of George W. Bush George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic i ...

to investigate hardcore pornography at the urging of

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...

groups.Glover, Scott (June 9, 2008)
Upcoming trial will see hours of hard-core fetish pornography.
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''Kay, Julie (August 30, 2005)
U.S. Attorney's Porn Fight Gets Bad Reviews.
'' Daily Business Review'' Notable cases were brought against Joseph R. Francis'

Mantra Films, Inc. Mantra Films Inc., or Mantra Entertainment, was an American softcore pornography production company created by Joe Francis, chiefly for the production and distribution of the United States-based '' Girls Gone Wild'' and '' Guys Gone Wild'' media fr ...

('' Girls Gone Wild''), as well as producers

Ira Isaacs Ira E. Isaacs (born 1951) is an American pornographic film director and self-described "shock artist." He was convicted of five federal counts of selling and distributing obscene material in 2012.Kim, Victoria; Ahmad, Aida (April 28, 2012)Fetish f ...

and

Max Hardcore Paul F. Little (born August 10, 1956) is an American pornographic actor, producer and director better known by his stage name Max Hardcore. He rose to prominence in 1992 with the film series ''The Anal Adventures of Max Hardcore'', which in 1994 ...

.Gross, Grant (July 25, 2007)
U.S. Man Faces Online Porn Charges.
''

PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tech ...

Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015. Holder, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama, was the first African America ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's appointee for

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

, dissolved the task force in spring 2011, leaving obscenity prosecutions to the

United States Department of Justice Criminal Division United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

References

External links

Obscenity Prosecution Task Force
United States Department of Justice agencies Task forces Government agencies established in 2005 Government agencies disestablished in 2011 Obscenity law {{US-gov-stub